U.S. Space Forces General B. Likelihood Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, testifies on the FY2024 budget request through the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Armed Services/AFP hearing (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty’s paintings
When Gen. Likelihood Saltzman took the stage on the Colorado Springs, Colorado Space Symposium this week, his message was easy: The USA has entered a recent era of space activity.
“The threats we face to our in-orbit capabilities from our strategic competitors [have] increased significantly,” Saltzman, the US Space Force’s second-ever chief of space operations, told CNBC after the speech. by themselves, they grew exponentially.”
related investment news
![Citigroup Tells Clients How They Can Invest in the Space Gold Rush](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107227698-1681906684837-gettyimages-1135729908-aap_5015_nasa_1.jpeg?v=1681913928)
“I would like to make sure that we expect in another way about our processes and procedures,” he said in an interview with CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast, his first televised interview since becoming the highest-ranking military official within the service last November.
The news comes at an important time as space is rapidly commercializing and an elevated geopolitical background increasingly sees threats extending beyond Earth into a website for which the foundations of engagement remain unclear.
Follow and take heed to CNBC Manifest Space Podcast.hosted by Morgan Brennan, wherever you discover your podcasts.
Military experts say space is prone to be the frontline of any future conflicts – a battleground that might extend into the private sector and affect civilians in real time. Look no further than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for example: Recall the unprecedented cyberattack on the European communications network of a US satellite operator Viasat just as Russian soldiers mobilized to cross sovereign borders.
Saltzman said the space tactics of adversaries equivalent to Russia and China ranged from jamming communications within the GPS constellation; to lasers and dazzlers that disrupt orbital cameras to stop image collection; to anti-satellite missiles, equivalent to the one tested by Russia in late 2021.
“We see satellites that may actually grab one other satellite, grapple with it, and pull it out of operational orbit. All of these capabilities are demonstrating in orbit today, so the mixture of these weapons and the speed at which they’ve been developed could be very worrying,” he said.
That claims why, despite a wave of heated debates, the Space Force was quickly launched in 2019 as the primary recent branch of the U.S. armed forces in seven a long time.
To reply faster to changing threats and secure space assets, Saltzman desires to further expand the service’s capabilities to make satellite constellations more resilient and win more launch services by leveraging a growing cadre of industrial space players.
Example: Space Force’s recently announced procurement strategy for more launch services. The brand new “two-lane sourcing approach” goals to provide rocket startups more opportunities to compete for national security launch contracts.
With the business as a result of be awarded next yr, the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 is estimated to cost billions of dollars and is anticipated to draw bids from firms equivalent to Rocket Laboratory, Relativity Space and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, amongst others. Phase 2 prizes went to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, a three way partnership Lockheed Martin AND Boeing.
Increasing the budget also helps. While still only a fraction of the country’s overall defense budget, Space Force’s $30 billion request for fiscal yr 2024 represents a 15% increase over the degrees enacted this yr.
“It is a team sport and none of us will succeed alone,” Saltzman said.
Hosted by CNBC’s Morgan Brennan, “Space Manifesto” focuses on the billionaires and brains behind the ever-expanding possibilities beyond our atmosphere. Brennan talks to mega moguls, industry leaders and startups in today’s satellite, space and defense industries. IN “Manifestation Space”, sit back, loosen up and prepare to take off.